Hawks pull off upset over No. 2 Panthers
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
BANGOR — When Hodgdon girls basketball coach Vaughn Farrar came into the season, he had a feeling his team could do some good things on the basketball court.
Little did he realize that those good things would come together at just the right moment and that his Hawks would advance all the way to the Eastern Class C title game. No. 7 Hodgdon (14-7 overall) knocked off No. 2 Central Aroostook, 42-37, Thursday evening at the Bangor Auditorium. The Panthers finished the season with a 15-5 record.
Hodgdon’s Mariah Wiley led all players with 17 points, while Jenna Steamer added 14 and Haley Gardiner 10. Victoria McIntyre led the Panthers with 13 points, while Kayla Cushman chipped in nine.
“We got big things from a lot of different kids tonight,” Hawk coach Vaughn Farrar said. “We had three different girls on McIntyre at different times throughout the game. Our game plan was to get Jennah on her in the fourth quarter, as long as she wasn’t in foul trouble. And we did that.”
Staff Photo/Joseph Cyr
UP STRONG — CAHS’ Victoria McIntyre goes strong to the hoop. 
For the Panthers, Thursday’s semifinal epitomized the up and down season CAHS has endured.
“All season we have struggled with putting four quarters together,” CAHS coach Stori Shaw said. “We’ll score two points one quarter and 21 the next. We are very inconsistent, but we always work hard and never give up. That is something we have focused on all season.”
Nether team was able to establish dominance in the first half. The two squads battled to a 10-10 stalemate at the end of the first quarter and Hodgdon clung to a 20-19 lead at halftime and maintained that one-point edge (30-29) after three stanzas.
The Hawks took over the lead for good with 7:45 to play in the third quarter as Haley Gardiner sank a pair of free throws, giving Hodgdon a 22-21 lead. The Panthers came close on a number of occasions, but were never able to regain the lead.
In the final quarter, foul trouble came into play for the Panthers. McIntyre fouled out of the contest with 2:26 to play and the Hawks up 36-34.
“That was a huge loss for us,” Shaw said. “Anyone that knows anything about our team, knows we need to have Rachael Grew and Victoria McIntyre on the court at all times.”
In a classy show of sportsmanship, the entire Hodgdon bench shook hands with McIntyre after she fouled out of the game.
On the next possession, the Hawks were able to work nearly a minute off the clock as CAHS stayed in its zone defense.
“I was hoping we could get the clock under a minute and then put Mariah (Wiley) on the foul line,” Farrar said.
That scenario played out as Wiley connected on three of four foul shots in the final 35 seconds to ice the game for the Hawks.
Grew struggled in Thursday’s game as she suffered a nosebleed prior to the game and had to come out twice during the contest for a reoccurrence, the coach said. She was also trying to battle through a flu bug and took a hard hit to her throat while rebounding in the third period.
“Bless her heart, Rachael was sick as a dog tonight,” coach Shaw said. “She fought through it for her team. That’s just the kind of kid she is.”
HODGDON (42)
Levesque, Oliver, Wiley 4 9-10 17, McQuarrie 0 1-1 1, M. Gardiner 0 0-1 0, H. Gardiner 3 4-7 10, Steamer 7 0-2 14. Totals: 14 14-21 42.
CENTRAL AROOSTOOK (37)
Cushman 2 5-8 9, York 1 0-0 2, Fletcher 2 0-0 4, S. Grass 2 0-1 4, Bradbury, Grew 2 0-0 5, McIntyre 5 3-4 13, C. Grass. Totals: 14 8-13 37. 3-pointer — Grew.
Hawks 10-10-10-12 — 42
Panthers 10-9-10 -8 — 37
